"We decided to use helicopters after the Palestinians refused to allow us to get the wounded man out," he said.

The army gave no details of the seriousness of the man's injuries.

Witnesses said combat tanks and armored personnel carriers had also been deployed at the entrance to Nablus.

Joseph's Tomb, in the Balata refugee camp, is an Israeli enclave in the Palestinian-ruled town.

It houses a Jewish seminary, whose students were evacuated on Friday for fear of attack.

Meanwhile, The Israeli army said it has decided to close certain roads in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to civilian traffic, an unprecedented action that follows four days of violence that has rocked the territories and claimed the lives of 35 people - (AFP)